Deeper Commentary
Isaiah 28:1 Woe to the crown of pride of the
drunkards of Ephraim- Israel had lost their hold on true doctrine, many scarcely knew the
Law (Is. 57:4,5; 59:3). They got drunk at the temple feasts (Is. 36:10-12;
58:3,4), like Corinth they had an "eat, drink, for tomorrow we die"
mentality (Is. 22:12,13); they committed all manner of sexual perversions,
along with almost every other form of doctrinal and moral apostasy (Is.
5:11-13,24; 8:19; 9:15; 22:12,13; 24:5; 27:11; 28:7; 30:10; 31:6; 44:8-20;
consider the similarities with Corinth). This list is worth reading
through. And consider the terrible implications of their perversion in Is.
66:17. But the earlier chapters of Isaiah sternly rebuke Israel for their
pride- there is not a whisper of all these other things until
later (Is. 2:11-22; 3:16-20; 5:15; 9:9). And even throughout the later
rebukes, there is the repeated criticism of their pride (Is. 13:11; 16:6;
23:9; 24:4; 25:11; 26:5; 28:1,3,14; 29:4; 30:25; 50:33; 57:15). This is
why Isaiah's prophecies of Christ stress His humility (Acts 8:33), and the
"lofty", "high", "exaltation" of God. These words, common in Isaiah, are
those translated “pride" in Isaiah's condemnations of Israel's arrogance;
as if to say that God was the only one who could be 'proud'.
And to the fading flower of his glorious beauty,
which is on the head of the fertile valley of those who are overcome with
wine!- Is. 40:6-8 describe all of humanity with the
very same language of fading flowers. In spiritual terms, alcoholics are
the epitome of us all in our unredeemed state. Tragically, fertile valleys
and much wine were part of the blessings of the covenant if Israel were
obedient. Despite their disobedience, God by grace gave them the blessings
for obedience, as He did as it were to the prodigal son. And that grace
was abused.
Isaiah 28:2 Behold, the Lord has a mighty and strong one; like a storm of
hail, a destroying storm- The reference is to the Assyrian (Is.
8:7,8), personified and epitomized in a singular individual (Shalmaneser,
in Ephraim's context), the equivalent of the "antichrist" individual of
the last days. There was however a refuge available from that storm in
Zion (s.w. Is. 4:6; 25:4). The repentant remnant amongst the ten tribes
were to flee to Zion, and they did this; although it seems they fled more
for material safety than from a motive of repentance.
And like a storm of mighty waters overflowing, He will cast them down to the earth with His hand- The "waters" refer to the Assyrians, coming in judgment upon the ten tribes. Yet this is part of Isaiah's burden to Judah and Jerusalem. Like us, they were intended to learn from the condemnation of others and yet they did not. The humbling of men as it were from heaven to earth is a major theme of the prophets, Isaiah especially.
Isaiah 28:3 The crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim will be trodden
under foot- Their alcohol inspired arrogance would be trodden down.
LXX has "the hirelings of Ephraim", alluding to their prostituting
themselves to the Syrians and Egyptians, accepting their gods in return
for protection against Assyria.
Isaiah 28:4 The fading flower of his glorious beauty, which is on the head
of the fertile valley, shall be like the first-ripe fig before the summer,
which someone picks and eats as soon as he sees it- LXX "And the
fading flower of the glorious hope on the top of the high mountain shall
be as the early fig; he that sees it, before he takes it into his hand,
will desire to swallow it down". The idea may be that the promise of glory
and beauty was fading, the potential wasn't reached; but despite that the
repentant remnant of Israel of :5 would be as the first-ripe fig, the sign
of the Summer of the Kingdom of God arriving. The Lord applies this
language to the repentance of a latter day Israelite remnant, along with
and at the same time as that of the various "trees" of the Gentiles (Lk.
21:29-31).
Isaiah 28:5 In that day- This term is used about widely different
events; the judgment of the ten tribes in :3, the latter day repentance of
Israel in :4. This is because the prophetic potential was that they could
all have happened at the same time at Isaiah's time. But Israel didn't
repent, the Kingdom of God wasn't reestablished in Judah. And so the
various elements of these prophecies are left fulfilled at different
times. Another approach is to argue that because God is beyond time, His prophecies appear to jump around in time.
They only appear disjointed to us who read them with a background
insistence that everything must be chronological. Thus the tenses change
freely throughout Isaiah 53. And throughout Isaiah, prophecies of the
Kingdom are often introduced by the rubric "in that day"; and yet the
preceding context is often quite different (e.g. Is. 3:7,18; 4:1; 5:30;
7:18,21; 10:20,22; 11:10; 12:1; 17:9; 19:6; 22:20,25; 25:9; 27:13; 28:5;
29:18). It makes an interesting exercise to go through Isaiah 9 and decide
to which time each verse applies. Some of the verses are quoted in the NT
and given specific fulfillments. They refer to Isaiah's day, the Assyrian
invasion, the birth of Jesus, the beginning of His ministry at age 30, and
to His future Kingdom. And yet the verses aren't presented in this order;
they move from one to the other at ease, with no linking rubric or
explanation. Likewise Daniel's prophecies seem to have a big hiatus in
their fulfillment (Dan. 2:34; 8:23; 9:24; 11:39); and Zechariah is another
good example. Many attempts to understand prophecy, not least the book of
Revelation, have fallen into problems because of an insistent desire to
see everything fulfilling in a chronological progression, whereas God's
prophecies (Isaiah is the classic example) 'jump around' all over the
place as far as chronological fulfillment is concerned. And this principle
is not only seen in Bible prophecy. The historical records in the Old
Testament tend to be thematically presented rather than chronologically
(Joshua is a good example of this); and the Gospel records likewise. It
especially needs to be recognized that in line with so much OT prophecy,
neither the Olivet prophecy nor its extension in the Apocalypse can be
read as strictly chronological. Thus Lk. 21:8-11 gives a catalogue of
signs, and then v. 12 jumps back to the situation before them: "but before
all these things..." (Is. 21:27,28; Mk. 13:10 are other examples).
Yahweh of Armies will become a crown of glory, and a diadem of beauty, to the remains of His people- It was envisaged that there would be a remnant amongst the ten tribes who would accept Yahweh's kingship over them and would thus become His people in His reestablished Kingdom. Glory and beauty recalls the High Priest's garments; the crown of glory would be the High Priestly mitre, LXX "the woven crown of glory". But this priest also had a diadem; the idea is of a king-priest, a Messianic figure who would arise to save the repentant remnant of the ten tribes.
Isaiah 28:6 And a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgement- The
idea is as GNB "He will give a sense of justice to those who serve as
judges". This was never fulfilled in any leader of Israel and so it will
come to fulfilment in the Lord Jesus (Is. 11:3); although that prophecy
too could have come true in a child of Isaiah or in Hezekiah. Thus the
prophecy about Israel's potential was transferred to Judah; but they too
failed to fulfill it, and so it was reapplied to the Lord Jesus.
And strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate- The idea is that they repulse an enemy, and drive him back to his own city's gate. This was the possibility for Ephraim (the ten tribes) if they had repented; they could have repelled the Assyrians. But they didn't repent nor have faith as required, and so the prophecy was reapplied or transferred to how Hezekiah of Judah did this when "He smote the Philistines, even unto Gaza " (2 Kings 18:8)..
Isaiah 28:7 They also- This appears to be saying that Judah "also"
was just as bad as Ephraim.
Reel with wine, and stagger with strong drink; the priest and the prophet reel with strong drink. They are swallowed up by wine, they stagger with strong drink. They err in vision, they stumble in judgement- The priests were of course not allowed to drink alcohol when on duty. We get the impression here of chronic alcoholism, even amongst those who did receive genuine prophetic messages from Yahweh; hence GNB "The prophets are too drunk to understand the visions that God sends, and the priests are too drunk to decide the cases that are brought to them". The reference may be of course to the messages sent through Isaiah, but the criticism is specifically applied to the prophets who received the visions and the priests whose duty it was to faithfully teach and distribute that word.
Isaiah 28:8 For all tables are completely full of filthy vomit and
filthiness- These tables were presumably the altars within the
Jerusalem temple, or at best the tables used by the priests for
preparation of the sacrifices. The priests were so drunk in the temple
that they were vomiting on them. This sad state of things was how things
were in Isaiah's time, when Hezekiah had apparently made sweeping reforms.
Clearly those reforms failed to affect the vast majority. That such
behaviour could be tolerated by the masses and others in leadership says a
lot about them.
Isaiah 28:9 Whom will He teach knowledge? To whom will He explain the
message? Those who are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts?-
This can be read as the drunk priests and prophets of :7 drunkenly talking
about Isaiah, scoffing as if "Whom will he
(does Isaiah presume to) teach knowledge? And whom will he
(Isaiah) make to
understand instruction? Is it those (that is, does he take us to
be) just weaned from the milk".
Isaiah 28:10 For it is precept on precept, precept on precept; line on
line, line on line; here a little, there a little- See on :9. They
complain Isaiah keeps repeating his message as if teaching very small
children. The repetition of sounds in the Hebrew reflects their scorn of
Isaiah, perhaps because he stammered (:11): tzav latzav,
tzav latzav, qav laqav, qav laquav, as if they were imitation his
stammering. We recall how God used Moses as His prophet and mouthpiece,
when it seems he too had some speech impediment. This is typical of
Yahweh's work with men; to choose the weakest and most humanly
inappropriate for His mighty work.
Isaiah 28:11 But He will speak to this nation with stammering lips and in
another language- As explained on :10, God chose Isaiah's stammering
lips to witness to Israel and Judah, and in addition, He would even use
Gentiles who didn't even speak Hebrew.
1 Cor. 14 is a list of
commands concerning the use of the gift of tongues; 1 Cor. 14:21 quotes Is. 28:11
concerning how this gift would be used to witness against the Jews: “In
the law it is written, With men of other tongues and other lips will I
speak unto this people...”. Is. 28:11 primarily refers to
Isaiah 28:12 to whom He said, This is the resting place. Give rest to the
weary; and This is the refreshing; yet they would not hear- Is. 11:10
had spoken of how the Messianic figure possible at Isaiah's time could
have restored the Kingdom, "And his resting place will be glorious".
This could simply refer to a literal appearance of glory upon mount Zion,
as hinted at in several prophecies. But this was precluded at the time by
Judah refusing this "rest" (Is. 28:12 s.w.). Or His resting place could be
the hearts of those who "trust" in Him (Is. 11:10), a resting place chosen
by Him because the temple on Zion had not been rebuilt as required and
therefore God chose to dwell in the hearts of individuals instead (Is.
66:1,2 s.w.). Hence GNB "He offered rest and comfort to all of you, but
you refused to listen to him". The appeal of Is. 40 was that comfort was
again available to the people at the time of the restoration. But again,
the vast potential was wasted. Likewise
Israel could’ve had honey out of the rock; but they got only water (Ps.
81:16). They could have had peace and serenity when under attack- “but you
would not”(Is. 28:12; 30:15). There may be people in your neighbourhood,
in your life, who would come to the life eternal if you engaged them about
the Gospel. There may be specific victories over personal failures which
have been potentially enabled by God, in great detail.
Isaiah 28:13 Therefore the word of Yahweh will be to them precept after
precept, precept after precept; line on line, line on line; here a little,
there a little; that they may go, fall backward, be broken, be snared, and
be taken- Their judgment was to be appropriate to their mocking. They
would not be able to "hear the word of Yahweh" (:14) because they saw it
as just disconnected sound bites, line upon line, concept after concept,
but not tied together in their minds as the living word of God. We must
ask if this is our perception of God's word; just disconnected bits of
truth and abstract concepts, without hearing the word of Yahweh as a
living dialogue with us personally. The more textual analytic tools we
have, and the more we think we are on the way to totally 'true'
interpretation of verse after verse, the greater our tendency to fall into
this "line on line" attitude.
Isaiah 28:14 Therefore hear the word of Yahweh, you scoffers, that rule
this people in Jerusalem- See on :13. Instead of just hearing the
isolated words and concepts of God's revelation, they were to hear His
word as a living word and conversation with themselves personally. Even
those awful scoffers who mocked Isaiah's inspired preaching (:10)
were still Isaiah's concern, as they were Yahweh's. We note that the
Jerusalem rulership was the group addressed; evidence enough that
Hezekiah's apparent reforms were not far reaching.
Isaiah 28:15 Because you have said, ‘We have made a covenant with death,
and with Sheol are we in agreement; when the overflowing scourge passes
through, it won’t come to us- As explained on :18, the covenant in
view may be the agreements with Egypt for help against Assyria and then
later Babylon. These nations were angry that Judah had made covenants with
Egypt when they had a covenant with them. Jeremiah and Ezekiel describe
this as adultery, resulting in the wrath of the lovers. And so the
covenant was really sure to lead to death. The connection with Egypt is
deepened when we realize that the Hebrew for "death" is mut, and
this was the name of an Egyptian idol. However, it could be that the
covenant referred to was with Assyria, who is likened to sheol in
Is. 5:14; Hos. 13:14; and because they broke that covenant, the
overflowing scourge of Assyria (Is. 8:8) invaded them and destroyed them.
It was Assyria who was going to kill them, and so their making a covenant
with Assyria was effectively making a covenant with death. The reasoning
of the leaders of Judah (:14) was that because they had made a treaty with
Assyria, when the Assyrian invasion came, it would take away Israel (:2),
but not Judah, because they had made a covenant with Assyria. This gives
deeper insight into Hezekiah's bravery in breaking the covenant with
Assyria; the others in the leadership were trusting deeply in that which
he was breaking. We too at times have to stand with our backs to the world
in order to do what is right, no matter how many friends we lose.
For we have made lies our refuge, and we have hidden ourselves under falsehood’- They likely never said this, but God perceives their attitudes and what they were effectively 'saying'. These attitudes of "lies" were to be swept away by the hailstorm and waters of the Assyrian and later Babylonian invasions. But actually this didn't happen in Isaiah's time, because the waters of Assyria were not allowed to drown Zion. The Assyrians did indeed "overflow and pass over" (Is. 8:8), but not all their refuges of lies (:17) were swept away. The repentance of a minority affected the outcomes of judgment even for these sinners in Zion. The ways of Yahweh are indeed complex because He so respects the freewill of every man. Their confident claim that the overflowing rivers of the Assyrians wouldn't come near them is stated to be false in :17 LXX: "for the storm shall by no means pass by you".
Isaiah 28:16 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh, Behold, I lay in Zion
for a foundation a stone- This could have had
various primary fulfillments. Zerubbabel and the restored exiles did
"lay... a foundation stone" in Zion (Zech. 4:9), but some wept when it was
laid- because clearly the rebuilt temple was not that commanded in Ez.
40-48 (Ezra 3:10-12). This was to happen when Babylon fell (Is. 14:32
s.w.) and Cyrus ordered the laying (s.w.) of the foundation of Zion (Is.
44:28). Zerubbabel failed to be the Messiah figure. And so these things
were transferred to the Lord Jesus and reapplied.
The Lord's parable of building on the rock was surely quarried from His understanding of Is. 28:16,17: "I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone... a precious cornerstone. The hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place" . That rock represents Christ and Him crucified, according to Paul (1 Cor. 10:4 and 3:11 cp. 2:2). Truly doing God's word will always lead us back to the spirit of the suffering Christ on Calvary. If it does not, our building, our apparent development within the much-vaunted Biblicism of our faith, is just a "refuge of lies". All our spiritual effort and suffering finds its ultimate summation in Christ's crucifixion. His suffering there is the quintessence of all spiritual struggle.
A tried stone- Literally a stone of trial. Reactions to this stone would effectively be the judgment of those who encountered him. This passage is quoted about the Lord Jesus in 1 Pet. 2:4-6, and Peter goes on to comment in 1 Pet. 2:8 that He is "a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence". He was and is the stone which tests; according to our attitude to Him, we reveal ourselves. And the Jews stumbled at Him. When Peter comments that this stone had been "rejected" by the Jews, he may have in mind not only their rejection of the Lord Jesus, but also of the previous potential fulfillments of the "foundation stone" prophecy in the time of Zerubbabel and others.
A precious cornerstone of a sure foundation. He who believes shall not be ashamed- There is a clear element of unreality here- the huge corner stone of the new temple was to be a "precious stone", something resembling a massive diamond. And this, Peter says, is a matter of our perceiving the Lord Jesus is indeed a precious stone. But this precious stone was rejected by the Jewish builders- the world's largest diamond, as it were, as big as a huge granite cornerstone, was rejected and went unperceived.
Isaiah 28:17 I will make justice the measuring line, and righteousness the
plumb line- This could imply that the new temple would be built on
the basis of justice and righteousness. This is stated several times in
the commands concerning the building of the new temple in Ez. 40-48. But
the returned exiles didn't do this.
The hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters will overflow the hiding place- see on :15. Their confident claim in :15 that the overflowing rivers of the Assyrians wouldn't come near them is stated to be false in :17 LXX: "for the storm shall by no means pass by you". And yet by grace, as explained on :15, the storm didn't sweep all of the away.
These things were ultimately reapplied to the things of the Lord Jesus and the last days. The Lord's parable of the builders on sand and rock was no doubt partly based on Is. 28:17, which speaks of the day of judgment being like hail which "shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and waters (which) shall overflow". The spiritual house of the foolish builder was a lie, effectively; an appearance of real development which deceived men. For externally, men cannot know anything about the different foundations of houses built side by side.
Isaiah 28:18 Your covenant with death shall be annulled, and your
agreement with Sheol shall not stand- See on :15. T
When the overflowing scourge passes
through, then you will be trampled down by it-
Isaiah 28:19 As often as it passes through, it will seize you; for morning
by morning it will pass through, by day and by night; and it will be
nothing but terror to understand the message- The sense may be as GNB
"It will strike you again and again, morning after morning. You will have
to bear it day and night. Each new message from God will bring new
terror!". The reference may be to the various times that the Assyrian
waters came through Judah-
once under Sargon, twice under Sennacherib, three or four times under
Esarhaddon, and twice under Asshur-bani-pal. Or we could also see a hint
here that they were to experience the truth of these prophecies at
multiple times and in various contexts; Assyria, Babylon, Rome and the
last days situation would all be fulfillments of Isaiah's message.
Isaiah 28:20 For the bed is too short to stretch out on, and the blanket
is too narrow to wrap oneself in- The covenant with Assyria or Egypt
(:15) would not actually bring the relief expected and promised. And yet
as noted on :18, in the Assyrian context, there was in fact that relief-
but because of the faith and repentance of a remnant.
Isaiah 28:21 For Yahweh will rise up as on Mount Perazim, He will be angry
as in the valley of Gibeon- These two locations are combined when
David was given special Angelic assistance to defeat the Philistines there
(1 Chron. 14:11,16).
That He may do His work, His unusual work, and bring to pass His act, His extraordinary act- The "unusual" work was in that now, what God had helped Israel do to the Gentiles, would now be done by God to Israel at the hand of the Gentiles. He was to treat His people as Gentiles, for that was how they were in their hearts. "Unusual" is AV "strange", and nearly always refers to Gentiles. Yahweh was to do a 'Gentile work' upon Israel. See on Is. 29:1.
Isaiah 28:22 Now therefore don’t be scoffers, lest your bonds be made
strong; for I have heard a decree of destruction from the Lord Yahweh of
Armies, upon the whole earth- see on Rom. 9:28,29.
The
frequent predictions of judgment upon Israel were effectively calls to
repentance, so that the predicted judgment need not actually happen.
Intended outcomes could be "cut short", the time periods changed
accordance to human behaviour. Hence LXX: "I have heard of works finished
and cut short by the Lord of hosts, which he will execute upon all the
earth". The
more Israel resisted the call, the more they were as it were tightening
the bands which the prophetic word had laid around them; they would be
confirmed in their way and their bands would be strengthened.
Isaiah 28:23 Give ear, and hear my voice! Listen, and hear my speech!-
This reflects Isaiah's appreciation that outcomes could really be changed
by response to the word he was preaching. We ought to be encouraged in our
witness likewise.
Isaiah 28:24 Does he who ploughs to sow plough continually? Does he keep
turning the soil and breaking the clods?- The idea is as GNB "Farmers
don't constantly plow their fields and keep getting them ready for
planting". God's patience in preparing the fields of the eretz to
receive His message would not continue forever. This parallels the point
made in :27, that the harvest of Yahweh's judgments would likewise not
endure eternally. He has a purpose in His judgments, and they were to make
the eretz a fertile ground for the seed of His word. And He
likewise works in our lives too.
Isaiah 28:25 When he has levelled its surface, doesn’t he plant the dill,
and scatter the cumin seed, and put in the wheat in rows, the barley in
the appointed place, and the spelt in its place?- "Place" is really
"border". GNB: "Once they have prepared the soil, they plant the seeds of
herbs such as dill and cumin. They plant rows of wheat and barley, and at
the edges of their fields they plant other grain". The borders or edges of
the field were also planted, but with different crops than in the main
field. I suggest that as explained on Is. 35:2 we have the vision of the
Gentiles living in the desert areas on the borders of the eretz
also bringing forth fruit to God. But God's intention from His fields was
that they would not all bear the same seed; dill and wheat aren't planted
together in the same part of the field, and they are tended and harvested
differently. We have here an anticipation of how unity is not uniformity,
and all manner of different fruit is envisaged. The levelling of the
surface in the judgments is the image of Is. 40, where an even surface is
to be prepared before the coming of the Kingdom.
Isaiah 28:26 For his God instructs him in right judgement, and teaches
him- LXX "So thou shalt be chastened by the judgment of thy God, and
shalt rejoice". The man who ploughs in :24 appears to be God; so the
LXX makes more sense here. The end result of all the judgments was going
to be joy for the righteous who allowed themselves to be instructed by the
judgments.
Isaiah 28:27 For the dill are not threshed with a sharp instrument,
neither is a cart wheel turned over the cumin; but the dill is beaten out
with a stick, and the cumin with a rod- The idea is that the
threshing of judgment was not done in a blundering, insensitive way. It
was designed to bring forth a refined product which would then be of some
use. The judgments are likened to a stick used to beat out dill, a plant
grown on windowsills. This is how precise and relatively gentle were God's
judgments; they were not broad scale and disproportionate, as is the case
with human judgments.
Isaiah 28:28 Bread flour must be ground; so he will not always be
threshing it. Although he drives the wheel of his threshing cart over it,
his horses don’t grind it- Because Divine judgment has end results in
view and is not merely punishment, they will not be eternal. Nor will they
be in such a form as to preclude a harvest. GNB: "They do
not ruin the wheat by threshing it endlessly". LXX "I will not be wroth
with you for ever, neither shall the voice of my anger crush you". Eternal
threshing, like an eternal hell fire, is just not what God is about.
Isaiah 28:29 This also comes forth from Yahweh of Armies, who is wonderful
in counsel, and excellent in wisdom- "Wonderful in counsel" uses the
same words as in Is. 9:6, where Messiah is to be the Wonderful Counsellor.
The idea is that the fruit of all the judgments was going to be seen in
the events of the last days, when that Messiah figure would stand on earth
and be the means of resolving all the judgments into a wonderful harvest.
Then we will finally resolve the problem of evil; we will see that the
judgments were indeed necessary and were used in the wisdom of God.
Previous Chapter
